Musically Inclined

Nathan's first instrument, the trombone! We joked around with him at first about picking an instrument that was as tall as he is, but guess what? He's a good 4-5 inches taller than it. The associate from the instrument supply company told us that at Nathan's age he also started out on the trombone, but he was only 1/2 and inch taller than it. That made Nathan feel good.
He just received it today and can already put it together without help and is making noises. He has lots of hot air in him so he'll be great on the trombone.
Great Job Nate! Keep it Up!

Farewell Little Friend

Well, Nathan lost his little buddy Bear last night. He had Bear for almost 3 years (8th birthday gift). Nathan took such great care of him. He never bit him once and always tried to jump up in his hand when it was feeding time. He seemed to know when it was time for food or a yummy snack as he would dig out of his hole and poke his head out. He was a smart little guy. So, anyways, we buried him last night, in the dark in my flower bed. We put a special flat stone over the grave to make sure nothing dug him up. This morning, Kaitlyn, woke up and asked if we could dig up the hole to see if Bear had gone to heaven yet. UMMMM, no. We had to have the whole "the body stays here but your spirit goes up" talk again. I think she finally got it as she decided that it would be gross to dig him up and see is body.

TAG: The Five

10 yrs ago I:

1. was 30lbs lighter

2. had only one baby

3. was living in Colorado

4. had braces

5. had less stress

Things on today's To Do List:

1. Get kids to school

2. Get myself to school

3. Take a statistics exam online

4. Take Nate to swim practice

5. Fit dinner in somewhere

Snacks I enjoy:

1. Chips and salsa

2. Saltine crackers and cream cheese (nope, never out grew that snack, now my kids even love it)

3. Broccolli and ranch dressing

4. Stringy cheese

5. Mixed nuts

Things I would do if I were a Millionaire:

1. Buy land out in the country and build log cabin home

2. Build log cabin home on land

3. Pay for nieces and nephews college education

4. pay off family's bills

5. Take entire family on a vacation somewhere exotic

Places I have live:

1. Anchorage, Alaska

2. Monrovia, California

3. Trier, Germany

4. San Giovanni, Italy

5. Colorado Springs, Colorado

Jobs I have had:

1. Bagger at the Commissary

2. Pretzel maker at Auntie Annes

3. Accounting office assoc.

4. Telemarketer

5. MOM!

I Tag:

Everyone who reads this post.

Hurrican Ike

This is a picture of our neighbor's (from across the street) home. We are currently catching the aftermath of Hurrican Ike. This morning, we had a cold front blowing in from one direction and then this evening, hurricane Ike hit us from the opposite direction. Once the winds shifted, trees and branches started falling down from all over the place. We have a tree in our backyard slightly bigger than the one in the picture that is ready to fall over at any minute. The only thing holding it together is the bolt that my grandpa put through it years ago when it split after being struck by lightning. We've debated cutting it down since half of the tree is dead, but it's very sentimental. You see, in Carey, every year the kindergartners receive a baby tree to take home and plant. It's part of the Tree Foundation (not sure exactly what it's called) here in Carey. Anyways, that tree that we are debating on is the tree that my mom planted when she was young. Now, we find that we are having to cut down a piece of sentimental history in our family. Once the tree across the street fell we realized that for the safety of our kids, it has to come down. Thankfully, the neighbor's grandbabies, puppy and family had just gone back in the house and no one was harmed. The only damage is the beautiful landscaping. It was so scarey watching it fall. We heard the cracking, turned around and watched in utter shock as the whole tree came down. The tree was marked as healthy by the village and looked healthy, but once it fell, you could see straight through the hidden hole within the trunk. The two trees to the left of it are still standing of course, however, have been marked for destruction and look like they need cutting. Anyways, so that was our excitement for the day in small town Carey, Ohio.

Little Boy's Best Friend

Apparently, dogs do clean up after themselves and others.

The other day, I asked Matthew to get everything out from under the couch. The house was a wreck and it needed to be picked up before Daddy arrived home from New York. Anyways, he started grabbing everything out and before I knew it, I turned around and the dog was under pushing things out with her paws. I'm not sure if she thought it was a game or if she really knew she was helping, but it was hilarious. I ran to get my camera as quickly as I could, but was a little too late to get her completely under the couch with her paws waving. I should've grabbed the video camera.

Kaitlyn saw me with the camera and had to jump in. She's definitely not camera shy.